Day 8 Stressful Triggers

Day 8

Stressful Triggers

Staying focused is sometimes a very difficult thing to do. Most of us know what our triggers are. Triggers are situations and circumstances that put us at our weakest point in terms of staying on track. My trigger is stress. Any and all stress. Job stress, financial stress, family stress. It all adds up to a big mess of stress. And I'm sure you've heard people say...”I'm an emotional eater”...aren't most of us? I'm not just an emotional eater, I'm also a celebratory eater and a spur of the moment craving eater, I'm a “ah, the heck with it, give me the double decker with extra cheese and bacon” eater. Identifying your triggers is important. What makes me feel the urge to eat a couple thousand calories in double cheeseburgers and ice cream? Stress. I identified this trigger several years ago. And for the longest time I've used that as an excuse not to get busy with this mission. “I'm just too stressed out to get started right now”...Or, after a successful couple of days, totally going nuts on a half gallon of tin roof sundae, then thinking...”I can't do this right now because things are just too stressful. So recently I had to ask myself: If I'm waiting to have a stress free life before I start losing this weight, will I ever start? The answer was no. We all have stress in some form. Stress is part of daily life for most people. Stress can be so many different things. So I realized that if I were waiting for my world to be completely perfect and stress free, then I would never, ever, ever start this. We have to adjust our strategy in the face of our triggers. We have to stop long enough to ask ourselves, will eating this really improve my situation? What can I do besides over-eat that will help me deal with this issue? I've turned to food for comfort for so long, that I know how incredibly difficult this can be. My smart and beautiful wife mentioned taking one day at a time in a comment she left on yesterdays blog, and you know what? She's so right. One day at a time I deal with cravings, one day at a time I deal with triggers, one day at a time I succeed. Eventually all of those “one day at a times” will add up to an amazing result.

I've talked about this tonight, because I've faced some pretty big triggers today. It was a very stressful Monday. The most stressful day out of the eight days so far. And you know what? I won. I identified the triggers, I knew I was staring them down, and I didn't blink. The right mindset can be a very tough opponent for stressful triggers. I keep remembering my motivating thoughts. It's always good to keep those motivators handy just in case you need them. I've stayed within my calorie allotment, I'm getting ready to work out, and tonight I will go to bed knowing that despite my challenges and stress today, I made it one more day. One day at a time! And seven more “one day at a times” and I get to weigh!! I can't wait!

One of the things I look forward to is being able to sit down anywhere I want without worrying about the stability of the chair underneath. I've mentioned before that my job has me sitting down most of the day, and over the years the stress has been just too much...on the chairs. I'm being completely honest with you when I say that I've broken or contributed to the destruction of at least six chairs in the several years I've been with Team Radio. I say “contributed to” because a couple actually broke when another employee (who was the lightest of everyone) sat in them. I was the first to say...”well, it's good to know that I'm not the only one that breaks chairs”...But I knew it was me that brought those chairs to the point of giving up.
There's nothing like the humiliation of sitting in a chair, feeling it give, and before you know it, you're on the floor in front of everyone. The company even paid a welder to come out and reinforce a couple of chairs. Oh, that's not embarrassing at all! I have to say that my current studio chair is the best I've ever had. The owner of Team Radio paid a bunch of money for it. It is rated to handle 500 pounds on a 24 hour a day schedule. It is a heavy duty chair! And it has a warranty guarantee...The deal is, if I break it, I have to be the one that takes it to the store for repairs. I think I could jump up and down on it and it would still hold. It's real nice. But it's not just the sturdiness of the chair that's important. It's the size. Chairs with narrow arms are horrible. I would really like to know the name of the company that manufactures those metal chairs with the extremely narrow armrest. You see them in many offices, along with me standing in the corner, because I know better than to even attempt to sit down. These chairs are a snug fit for normal size people! I have sat on the very edge of one before and boy is that uncomfortable! One of the worst sitting challenges I will not miss: fixed booths at restaurants. If you're of normal size you may not realize what I'm talking about, but if you're heavy, then you know that nothing spoils a fun night out like a restaurant with un-fat-friendly seating. I've squeezed into many a booth, and the whole time worried about the possible internal injuries I was causing. I've also walked into a restaurant, surveyed the dining room, and walked right back out. Formica lined row-a-booths are fat people traps and they should be outlawed!! There, I feel much better now. My worst chair story happened in the spring of 2003. I was living in Los Angeles at the time doing stand-up 100%. One day I ran across a part time on-air opening at Westwood One Radio Networks. A part-time job there would pay about or a little more than full time salaries anywhere else I had ever worked. So needless to say I was excited about winning over this network program director! I sent in my material and what do you know, he called me! He was seriously considering hiring me! Or he wouldn't have called right? I was thrilled. I would be on the air all over the nation! “This could be big”, I thought. The PD called me in for an interview the very next day. I drove to Valencia early to beat whatever traffic might get in the way, then after arriving an hour and a half early I took a long lunch at the Burger King down the road from Magic Mountain. When I finally arrived at Westwood One I was immediately given the grand tour of the facilities. Very nice. I mean, extremely nice studios. I was so impressed. The PD seemed very cool and I felt very comfortable, that is until I walked into his office for the interview. I noticed right away his guest chairs were not “fat friendly”. Extremely narrow arms and that wood and hot glued look. The PD took his chair behind his desk and told me to have a seat. I was afraid he was going to expect me to sit down! So I did...as lightly as I could on the very edge of the chair...and about point 2 seconds later the chair crumbled under my weight. I quickly caught myself from falling by grabbing his desk, but the chair wasn't so lucky. And niether were my chances of getting that job. After I broke one of his chairs, he invited me to sit in the other chair that WAS IDENTICAL to the one I just broke!!! I did, the same way as before, but this time with as much weight on my feet against the floor. Lucky for me the second chair somehow survived. My interview didn't. He never called me back. And I bet he tells that story to this day around the halls and studios of Westwood One Radio. Glad I could add some humor to their work place.

It will be so nice not to worry about where I'm going to rest my little behind. Yes, little. We're headed to the walking trail and then it's off to bed! Another successful day!

Good Choices,
Sean